A Time for Local Action
York XL at work in York, Pennsylvania. For more information, click here.
It’s not a great practice to share your thoughts with the world during the heat of the moment, but these words I wrote and published on election night have seemed to resonate with many. I believed it then and believe it just as intensely now.
[Everything] you are passionate about at the national level has a local analog that needs your attention.
And not only does it need your attention, your passion and energy is game-changing. The time and effort you put into making your place stronger and more prosperous will make a huge difference in the lives of others. The result of those efforts won’t be ambiguous—show your place love and it will love you back. I promise.
There are some remarkable things to know about our Strong Towns members. First, they are probably not who you think they are. Many people that are not members assume that all our members are professionals, most likely planners, who are paying for some type of special access or bonus material only relevant to them. That’s not even close.
We have surveyed our members and our audience multiple times, the latest being this past fall. Every time, we find that the majority of our membership describe themselves not as elected or appointed officials, and not as working professionals, but as concerned citizens. People who are interested in building a stronger and more prosperous world, beginning in their place.
We welcome public officials, and we welcome professionals working in related fields, because they are important to making change happen. Let’s be clear, however, that Strong Towns is not a guild or a professional fraternity. It’s not an industry publication for city builders. Strong Towns is a movement—a bottom-up revolution—of an amazingly broad and mixed group of people ready to see a change in how things are done.
And ready to be part of that change. Here’s the most remarkable thing about our members: they are agents of change. They are out making things happen. They are pushing the narrative, shifting the conversation, being the difference-makers in their places.
A full 87% of our members report being inspired by Strong Towns to share our message with others, including talking with someone about a Strong Towns idea they found important. That might not seem like a big deal, but it’s huge. It’s how movements grow and ideas spread. Sharing our message with others changes the culture, bit by bit. Our members do that, and it’s a gateway to even more significant action.
Over half of our members reported volunteering because of Strong Towns. Over half report being inspired by Strong Towns to join with others to take some type of collective action. This is a huge number of people out there doing amazing things. We hear these stories all the time. We document them when we can and pass them on to you. They inspire us and so many others.
Nearly half of our members were inspired to go and meet with a public official about Strong Towns. More than that decided who to vote for based on an analysis of where they stood on the issues discussed here. And a significant amount of our members were inspired by Strong Towns to actually run for office. Many of them won, and we’re just getting started.
This is all incredible, but here’s the most amazing part: Becoming a member of Strong Towns is a key step to taking action. Going to our website and signing up to become a member, joining with thousands of others who are out there taking action, supporting them through this movement, is a gateway to doing great things. We see it in the numbers.
Our members volunteer more. They vote more. They get involved more. In a world of political polarization and paralyzed governance, they are the credible advocates out there getting things done. I love these people. All of them.
This is our Member Week. I know that 2020 has been brutal and that many of you are not in a position to support us. That’s okay—you get yourself strong, do what you can, and support the people in this movement in the ways you are able.
If you are in a position to take that step, become a member of Strong Towns today. Be part of the change that America needs right now. Support others who are doing the work. Help grow this bottom-up revolution by joining a movement that is breaking through and changing the entire narrative of what it means to build a good life in a prosperous place.
Charles Marohn—known as “Chuck” to friends and colleagues—is the founder and president of Strong Towns. He is a land use planner and civil engineer with decades of experience. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning, both from the University of Minnesota.
Marohn is the author of Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity (Wiley, 2019) and Confessions of a Recovering Engineer: Transportation for a Strong Town (Wiley 2021). He hosts the Strong Towns Podcast and is a primary writer for Strong Towns’ web content. He has presented Strong Towns concepts in hundreds of cities and towns across North America.